Eagles Wheelchair off the mark!

20/03/2023

Sheffield Eagles Wheelchair had a dream start to their 2023 Championship campaign after thumping Bradford Bulls 60-12 in round 1 of the season, reversing the 4-110 and 104-4 defeats of last season.

It was an all action first half with the Eagles opening the scoring just two minutes into the game as David Butler crossed, concluding a passing move from right to left. His conversion went wide of the mark.

The Eagles couldn’t believe their luck two minutes later as Chris Haynes powered through the middle to score to the right of the posts, this time Butler adding the extras. It was Butler who was in again shortly afterwards as he dummied to Emma Pearson who was holding firm on the wing to create the space needed to score, with the try converted again.

Bradford appeared to come alive a little more, with more resilient defence, but it wasn’t long before Stephen Reilly found himself in space on the right edge to get his name on the scoresheet. Shaun Orton couldn’t convert.
 
Butler ticked the scoreboard over again just before 20 minutes with a carbon copy move of his previous try, also landing the conversion, before Reilly crossed again on the right edge which went unconverted.

Pearson was unlucky not to have her name on the try tally at half time as she was tackled short of the line for a certain try and bundled into touch for a second one as the Eagles threw everything at the right edge of the field.

Reilly added a further try with the half time whistle approaching, with the kick missed, to put the Eagles in a commanding 34-0 lead.
 
The second half started just as powerfully, with Haynes adding his second try just after the break having collected a Bradford fumble which gave Butler an easy shot at goal from bang in front.

The floodgates opened for Bradford as the Eagles capitalised on their errors, with Reilly adding two scores within five minutes, one of which was converted and Haynes completed his hat-trick with Butler adding the extras from the left side of the pitch.

Stuart Wilkinson didn’t quite have the pace to complete his break down field before being taken into touch, which would have crowned a magnificent debut, but the Eagles rolled on and a frantic set of play saw Pearson pop an offload left to Butler who beat the chasers to score in the left corner, a try he was unable to convert on the hour mark.
 
With Greg Brown having rotated his team to ensure all selected players got plenty of game time, the Eagles continued to pressure, but were tested more and more defensively by the Bulls who were determined not to go home on the wrong end of a whitewash. Youngster Logan Lamont’s efforts all game were rewarded as he shrugged off a tackler to find the try line and Scott Pyrah’s impressive performance was also rewarded with a try in the dying minutes. Both conversions by Pyrah were successful.

Next up for the Eagles is a home fixture, on Saturday 25th, against Wigan Warriors at the EIS (12:30pm KO). It'll be the first game of a double-header as the Eagles Men face Toulouse Olympique at the OLP (3pm KO). 
 
Sheffield Eagles: Chris Haynes, David Butler, Emma Pearson, Shaun Orton, Stephen Reilly. Interchanges: Jack Johnson, Stuart Wilkinson, Stacey Roulson, Ian Pride, Lisa Kelly-Pride

Tries: David Butler (2, 7, 19, 60), Chris Haynes (4, 42, 56), Stephen Reilly (16, 25, 36, 45, 50)
Goals: David Butler 6/11, Shaun Orton 0/1
 
Bradford Bulls: David Gregson, Jon Bairtstow, Richard Wright, Nathanial Wright, Becky Wilkinson. Interchanges: Stephen Potter, Sam Stebbings, Logan Lamont, Scott Pyrah, Connor Hines.

Tries: Logan Lamont (68), Scott Pyrah (72)
Goals: Scott Pyrah (2/2)
 
Referees: Becky Whiteley / Richard Turner